Microsoft's Azure Cloud Enables Experiences 'That Have Never Been Possible'

Microsoft demonstrated how its cloud computing platform Azure can dramatically improve gaming performance during the San Francisco-based Build conference.

Microsoft's presentation this week showcased a custom PC demo of a skyscraper falling apart, GameSpot reported. In one window, the demo shows the rapidly diminishing frame rate and performance problems on a high-end PC rendering the destruction on the client PC not using Azure. In another window, the demo kept at a steady, fluid 32 FPS, reflecting the transfer of processing power to a remote Azure server.

The cloud, in this example, allows Microsoft to compute physics, object rotations, and other calculations. Going forward, the goal is for developers to use the power of the cloud to "enable new kinds of experiences that have never been possible" by way of rendering events for players faster.